Before he ever got to Texas Tech, Stephen Smith had already put together a pretty impressive resume.

From the Little League World Series to a storied two-sport career at Frenship, Smith had already accomplished plenty before stepping on to the Tech campus and putting on a Red Raider uniform.

Now, add another highlight.

The freshman outfielder from Wolfforth helped No. 24 Texas Tech, ripping a two-out, two-run single to left in the bottom of the ninth as the Red Raiders rallied for a 5-4 victory over Dallas Baptist on Tuesday at Rip Griffin Park.

“It is (big) for sure,” said Smith, who at 6-foot-1 and 225 pounds is nicknamed ‘Bull.’ “I haven’t had any of these when I was playing at Frenship, so it’s pretty cool to come up here and do this. I mean, it’s what a kid dreams about.”

It also allows the confidence of the team overall grow after its best Big 12 Conference weekend in three years. The Red Raiders were coming off a sweep of Kansas State but had to refocus quickly against a solid Dallas Baptist team.

The Patriots (25-11) had already faced four Big 12 teams and were coming off a weekend where they took two of three from Baylor.

For the better part of eight innings Tuesday, Dallas Baptist showed why, jumping out to a 4-0 lead in the third inning then holding the Red Raiders at bay.

But for a team that seems to be doing everything right lately, all it took was one inning, and one big hit.

The ninth inning started innocently enough as Ryan Long drew a one-out walk and was lifted for speedy pinch-runner Devon Conley. Pinch-hitter Anthony Lyons grounded to third, but Patriots third baseman Nash Knight booted the ball, allowing Conley to reach third.

Dallas Baptist reliever Joseph Shaw got Tim Proudfoot to fly to shallow right, holding Conley at third. Lyons then took second with a stolen base, and on an 0-1 count, Smith, who had an RBI double that helped Tech pull to within 4-3 in the fifth, laced a fastball to left. Conley scored easily, and left fielder Justin Wall failed to come up with the ball cleanly, allowing Lyons to score the game-winner without a throw.

“He’ll remember it for the rest of his life, you can bet on that,” head coach Tim Tadlock said. “The guys kept playing ... and then there at the end the offense kind of picked themselves up and found a way to come up with a couple of runs.”

A couple of runs was all it took thanks to the relief effort of juniors Cameron Smith and Dominic Moreno.

Smith, who was so good in relief against Kansas State on Friday, came in after the Patriots tagged starter Matt Withrow for all four of its runs. He walked the first two batters he faced to load the bases before getting a ground out to end the inning. He then tacked on 4 2/3 more scoreless innings, and Moreno (2-5) finished it off with 1 1/3 scoreless to earn his first victory since March 7 against New Mexico State.

“Coming in I started walking guys and was like, ‘Oh, no.’” Smith said. “Then luckily I found a groove and started hitting spots where I needed to hit spots.”

Tech needed his effort after Withrow’s struggles continued. After Tuesday’s game in which he allowed four runs on seven hits in 2 2/3 innings, Withrow has now thrown just six innings in his last four appearances, including two starts. He has allowed six earned runs in those six innings since holding Arkansas Pine-Bluff scoreless in seven innings on March 25.

“I really thought Matt’s first two innings were really good,” Tadlock said. “That’s the best he’s been and if he can give us two innings like that we can use him. The main thing with Matt is trying to get him in a role that’s going to help the team going forward.”

Tech now takes weekend off from Big 12 play but will still be on the diamond, opening a three-game home series against Prairie View A&M on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.